


In The Library

by SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles)



Series: Accident Prone [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Discworld - Terry Pratchett, Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Books, Explosions, F/M, GNU Terry Pratchett, Gen, I Am Groot, Libraries, Ridiculousness, Sorry Not Sorry, WinterShock - Freeform, ook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7848688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/SerialObsessor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is this the real world? Or is this fantasy?</p><p>OR</p><p>Darcy knew from experience, that waking up after being knocked out by a random explosion in Jane’s lab, was always a revelation. She never knew if she would still be in the same place, let alone the same time, universe or reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Library

**Author's Note:**

> So this came about because I woke up last Monday morning thinking how amusing a conversation between Groot and the Librarian would be... just over a week, and 5 thousand words later... the hardest part has been trying to end it... also, if you're not familiar with The Discworld, go read now! That's an order :-)

 

Darcy knew from experience, that waking up after being knocked out by a random explosion in Jane’s lab, was always a revelation. She never knew if she would still be in the same place, let alone the same time, universe or reality. There was a reason she always wore jeans, sturdy shoes and a jacket with well supplied pockets, when Jane had her machines turned on. This time, it looked like she was in a… library?? She groaned as the act of moving her head caused a stabbing pain to hit right behind her left ear, and a wave of nausea rolled over her.

“Don’t move.” A vaguely familiar voice said from behind her. “You took a nasty bump to your head, you should probably stay still for a few more minutes.”

She groaned again. “Ugh, who is that? I don’t remember anyone else being in the lab when Jane’s Thingummy exploded.”

“It’s Bucky Barnes. We’d just stepped out of the elevator when it happened.”

“We? Who's we? Is there someone else here too?” she asked.

“I was with Steve, but there’s no one else here, it’s just you and me Lewis. How’s that head feeling?” she could feel gentle hands exploring her head as he asked the question.

She tried an experimental movement. There was still pain but nowhere near as bad. “Uh, feeling a bit better.”

“You’ve got a bit of a lump on the back of your head, but there’s no blood. You should be ok Lewis.”

“Well that’s good to know. How do you know my name anyway? You’ve never been anywhere near the labs before.”

“I’ve been living in the facility for 6 months now Lewis. You think I wouldn’t have checked out everyone I was living with?” he said mildly. “You know who I am don’t you?”

She nodded, then winced. “Course I know who you are, we all had to sit through a tonne of bullshit safety meetings about you when you moved in. Gods, I feel like a truckload of bricks fell on me.”

“It quite possibly did.” Bucky said as he moved around to crouch beside her. “Ok you ready to try sitting up? Here I’ve got you.”

He gently grasped her upper arm with one hand, and slid his other arm around to support her as she struggled upright. “Now, where the hell are we?”

Darcy peered around, able to see a little more, now that she was more upright.

“I think it looks like a library this time.” she observed.

“This time?” She could hear the surprise in his voice. “What do you mean this time? This happen to you a lot does it?”

“You wouldn’t believe it.” she said dryly. “I’ve almost lost count but I’d say at least a dozen times now? The first time I appeared in Central Park, the time after that I ended up in Asgard. Then there was the 10 minute time loop that we only broke when Tony slagged the machine with his repulsors – I mean really, 10 minutes? That’s not even enough time to have a cup of coffee, let alone explain to everyone else in the room that you’re repeating the last 10 minutes over and over and over and over again. And another time I ended up spending 3 months in an alternate timeline where Erskine never made it to America, Project Rebirth never happened, and Hydra pretty much decimated the world.” She considered that silently for a moment, whilst Bucky tried to process it. “That was pretty shit actually. Don’t ask me about it. Ever.”

“That does sound pretty shit.” he agreed, “And I promise I won’t ever ask you about it.”

He looked around again, but it was still dark, and gloomy, with shelves of books in every direction. ”So, if this kind of thing is a regular occurrence for you, how do you usually get back?”

“Well the first time I just phoned Jane and then caught the subway back, and when I landed in Asgard Thor just brought me back via the Bifrost. But the time after that I landed in a parallel universe version of Jane's lab and I sort of just snapped back after an hour or so. After that Tony injected me with some kind of nano thingies he can trace? I dunno, I usually just snap back sooner or later, you know, crackling lightning, surrounded by a cloud of bright light kind of thing. I also appeared in Tony’s Malibu workshop once. No snapping back that time, it was like the first time. He ended up sending a jet for me. Although this is the first time I’ve ever had anyone else come along with me. We should probably stick close and stay together, just in case.”

“Yeah, good idea. So if you're still in our world or universe, you have to find your own way back, but if it's not, you just sort of go back automatically? How long does it usually take you to figure out where you are?”

She struggled in the pocket of her jeans for a moment, and then pulled out a phone.” About 30 seconds.” she said as she checked it for a signal. “Well, we're not in Kansas this time Toto.”

“Did you really just call me Toto?” Bucky asked with a blank expression on his face.

“Ummm... no?? I was just quoting?? Sorry..?” she ventured. “Anyway, proof positive, we're not in own universe, so we'll just have to wait I suppose.”

“And how long do you think that will take?” he asked warily.

“Um, well... the longest I stayed 'away'” she added air quotes to away, “was about six months. But I'm rarely away for more than a few minutes in our world.” she added reassuringly. Bucky did not look reassured.

“So we could be stuck here, wherever here is, for a long time?” he ran his hands through his hair as he stood up and looked around again, and she took the opportunity to admire the way his tight black jeans and tight black shirt outlined some very admirable muscles. “I can’t even imagine it,” he said, “that’s some pretty weird shit.”

“Well sometimes that’s better than waking up in a hospital bed with a bunch of broken bones or no memories. Some days I wake up and surprise myself just by being.” Darcy shrugged resignedly.

“Being what?” he asked as he looked back down at her.

“Oh just being, in general.”

“Well I can relate to that.” He muttered to himself as she started struggling to her feet.

“You know, if this is a library, it’s a really weird looking library.” She said as he helped her stand up. “It’s like there’s no ceiling and these shelves look like they just go on forever.” She slowly turned in a circle as she looked around some more, “Um, Barnes? Are these books moving?? Are those chains??? Holy shit, Barnes, these books are chained to the shelves!”

“I dunno about you, but I think we should try and get out of here.” Bucky suggested.

They looked around, “So which way is out do you think?” she asked.

“Your guess is good as mine Lewis, how about we just pick a direction.”

“May as well.” She stumbled and almost fell as she tried to take a step. “Ugh, my leg hurts.” She grabbed onto his shoulder for support as she leaned against him.

“Here, lemme have a look.” he said as he crouched down, “Okay, it looks like you’re bleeding a bit, but it doesn’t seem to be too serious. You’ve probably just bruised it.” He observed as he pressed gently around the bloody area, ignoring her hisses of pain. “A bit of a scrape but you’ll live.” As he stood up again something caught his attention, and he nudged her arm, “ .. hey look at that.” She looked to where he was pointing. There were footsteps in the dust. “I think we just found our direction.”

They slowly followed the footprints, Bucky supporting Darcy with one arm as she limped along slowly. She kept an eye out for anything strange.. make that stranger, she silently amended to herself... or familiar. There was something about this place that was tickling at the back of her slightly fuzzy mind. As they rounded yet another corner Bucky suddenly jerked to a halt and pulled back quickly, pushing Darcy behind him as he did so.

“Barnes? What is it?” Darcy whispered.

“I saw movement up there. Wait here, I’ll go take a look.”

“Wait, wait, wait… can I have one of your guns? Just in case...”

Bucky blinked at her. “I don’t have any guns on me.”

“What? A knife then?”

He shook his head. “No knives either.”

“What, you mean you're unarmed?”

“You did not just say that.” he glared at her until she had the grace to blush, “I’m not a walking ammo locker Lewis. Now wait here, I’ll be back soon.”

She waited with increasing impatience for what seemed like an eternity in the dim gloom of the spooky shelves, books rustling all around her. Yeah, that was really weird. And was that sparks up there? She was so engrossed in watching the higher shelves that she didn’t hear her companion coming back to where she was waiting. She muffled a shriek as he suddenly reappeared in front of her. “Jesus Barnes, make some noise will ya.”

“Sorry. Come on, you’re never gonna believe what I’ve found up here.”

She followed him along the line of shelves until they came to a small alcove, with a couple of tables and chairs set up in the small space. And there was a large tree. That moved. And was alive.

“What the hell? Is that an Ent?” She said.

“I am Groot.” The tree said.

She stared at Bucky in disbelief. “A talking tree?” She looked back at the tree and then shrugged. Well, she’d seen weirder things, thanks to Jane’s propensity to blow things up whilst attempting to open inter-dimensional wormholes, portals and bridges.

“Are you from around here?” She asked it.

“I am Groot.” The tree said again, and she was sure it was shaking its head as it said it.

“That’s all it says,” Bucky informed her, “but it seems friendly.”

She looked back at it. “Groot huh?”

“I am Groot.” It said again, and this time she was sure she noticed a positive inflection as it spoke. There was a really good chance she decided, that it could understand them even if they couldn’t understand it. Him. She couldn’t keep calling him it she decided.

“I don’t suppose you know the way out of here do you?” She asked Groot.

“I am Groot.” And he lifted his head and sniffed the air, lifting a long leafy limb and pointing. “I am Groot.”

“Okay, lets go then.” She stumbled again as she tried to put weight on her sore leg. “But I think I need to sit down for a bit first.”

“I am Groot?”

“Sore head, injured leg. But I’ll be okay. Just need a short rest I think.”

“I am Groot.” And she managed to bite back her squeal of surprise as he swooped her up into his leafy limbed embrace. “Hey dude, thanks but warn a girl next time huh?”

“I am Groot.” He said morosely.

She patted him on what she thought was probably a shoulder. “Hey its ok, Groot, thanks. Onward then huh? Barnes you wanna take our six?”

They made much faster progress now and although the gloom didn’t ease at all, she started to feel less like they were lost in the deep dark woods, and more like they were out for a gentle stroll in the friendly forest. Then, out of the corner of her eye she caught another glimpse of sparks, followed by a flash of greenish-yellow purple lightning, that then crawled over and around the books, and the shelves that surrounded them.

“Ohhh,” she breathed, “I think I know where we are. Well this is a first.”

Barnes turned to look up at her. “Care to enlighten the rest of us?” He quirked an eyebrow in her direction.

“Um, ever been to a fictional world?” She asked him, “cos I haven’t… well hadn’t,” she corrected herself. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that we’re in the Unseen University Library.”

“The what where?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have any peanuts, or a banana on you would you?” She asked.

“I am Groot.” Groot shook his head gently.

“No, not something I consider essential supplies for my day to day life.” Barnes responded sceptically. “Did that bump on your head…”

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence Barnes.” She warned him.

“Ok Groot, any idea how much longer its gonna take to find our way out of here?” She asked her ride.

“Ooook?”

They all turned to look at the apparition behind them

“Yes!” Darcy pumped her fist in the air, “I was right. Groot put me down please.”

“I am Groot.”

“Ook?”

“Hi, I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m Darcy, this is Barnes..”

“My name is Bucky.” he said flatly.

“This is Bucky,” she continued smoothly, “and this is Groot. Guys, this is the Librarian. We kind of got here by accident.”

“Ooook!” The Librarian knuckled up to Darcy and patted her gently on the cheek with a leathery hand., before doing the same to Bucky. “Ook.”

“Lewis, that’s a mo..” Bucky started.

“Don’t use the M word.” Darcy warned, quickly turning and clapping her hand over his mouth. “I don’t think even you would fare very well against an orangutan.”

Bucky glared at her until she removed her hand.

“Oooook?”

“I am Groot.”

“Oook!”

“I am Groot?”

“Oook, oooook, ook. Ook?”

“I am Groot!”

“Ook, ook, oooook.”

“I am Groot.”

“Oook.”

“I am Groot.”

“Ook."

Darcy and Bucky watched, the former with amused interest, and the latter in confusion, as the exchange continued. “Well, this is without a doubt, the strangest conversation I’ve ever heard.” Bucky shook his head. “Any idea what they’re saying?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but I really hope they’re talking about how we all ended up here, and how we can get home.” Darcy said quietly.

“I am Groot.”

“Ook.”

The Librarian and Groot continued talking for a little longer, and then the Librarian turned and took hold of Darcy’s hand. “Ooook.” He said as he started walking, trying to pull Darcy along behind him.

“Hang on dude, not good with this walking thing right now. Groot, wanna gimme a lift again please?” Groot gently lifted her up again and followed the ape. Bucky just stood staring in stunned disbelief. “Hey Lewis,? Darcy? Are you sure this is safe?” He called after her. “No, but do you want to stay here? Come on!” Darcy called back to him and he reluctantly followed, trying to shake the feeling of unease that crawling up and down his spine.

A short time later they emerged from the shelves into a small area that contained a desk, some chairs, and a couple of old but comfortable looking couches. There was a rather tatty and bedraggled looking man dressed in faded old robes, and a pointy hat with 'wizzard' embroidered on it, seated at the desk, writing laboriously on a piece of paper.

He looked up at their approach, and his eyes went wide as took in their strange group. “Er, who’s this then?” he asked, addressing the ape.

“Oook. Ook.”

“Really? All the way up there? Well I’ll bet they’re hungry if they’ve been wandering around the shelves for that long. Er, hello, I’m Rincewind.”

“I’m Darcy, this is Bucky and that’s…”

“I am Groot.”

“Nice to meet you all. Now where did he go?”

“Who?”

“The Librarian. He said he found you right up the back of the library, almost in the edge of L-Space. He thinks you slipped through a hole in the fabric of the universe but he’s pretty sure he can get you all back.”

“What do you mean a hole in the fabric of the universe??” Bucky asked. “And you understand him?”

“Oh yes, I’ve been his assistant for a while now, you pick it up eventually. I'll ah, I'll just get someone to go and find some sandwiches or something for you.“ He pulled on a old rope, and shortly another robed and pointy hatted man came into the room. He stopped suddenly at the sight of the strange group in the room, and then shuffled over, sending almost terrified looks in Darcy’s direction, and overtly fascinated ones at Bucky’s semi exposed metal arm. Rincewind spoke to him for a minute and then the young man fled like demons were in his heels.

Bucky and Darcy exchanged a glance – the emotions that had just been exhibited towards them were the complete opposite of what either of them usually got - and then turned back to Rincewind.

“I don’t know if that will be necessary.” Darcy said, glancing at Bucky.

“Well, you’ll probably need supplies for the trip back to where ever it is you come from anyway, so it’s no trouble.”

“Why was he looking at us like that?” Bucky asked curiously.

“Oh don’t worry about him, he’s probably just nervous because we don’t usually let women in here, and I told him he’d be on banana duty for a month if he didn’t get back here with enough supplies to last a week in half an hour.”

Bucky shook his head, “No, I mean people don't usually look at me like I'm a new toy they want to play with, and I doubt anyone needs to be that terrified of Lewis here. And he didn't even spare a second glance for Groot.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark.” Darcy said mildly. “I'm probably the least terrifying thing in this room.”

“Oh, well most of the wizards don't have a lot to do with women, so consider them almost as terrifying as anything from the Dungeon Dimensions, whereas you look pretty normal really, even if you do look like you belong in the Assassins Guild, with all that black you're wearing.”

“I don’t do that anymore.” He said automatically, and then the start of the sentence registered in his brain.

“Hold on a minute, dungeon dimensions? Assassins Guild?? Just what the hell is going on here?”

“Just roll with it dude, we'll be back eventually, and then I’ll explain it all to you.” Darcy said offhandedly. Then she turned and looked at him. “Or did you have something really important to do? Are you sure you're ok?”

“I was coming down to the labs, so Scott and Tony could take a look at my arm.” He waved the offending appendage at her. “Then, there was an explosion. Now, I find myself in a strange library of all places, with a talking tree who says nothing but ‘I am Groot’...”

“I am Groot.” said Groot, who was entertaining himself by nibbling on some new growth on his arm.

“... And an ape whom it seems can communicate with the afore mentioned single-sentence-speaking tree and people are talking about Assassins Guilds and other stuff I don't understand, so I'm starting to feel twitchy. It takes a hell of a lot to make me feel twitchy.”

“Jane's explosion has somehow transported us into a world full of magic.” she said, “Will that do for now?”

Bucky stared at her woodenly. “This isn't funny Lewis, and I've just about had enough.” he turned around and contented himself with glaring at one of the lounges.

“Gees, be an asshole then.” She muttered to herself.

“Er, is he okay? And why did he say he doesn’t do that anymore when I mentioned the Assassin’s Guild?” Rincewind asked Darcy.

“It’s a long but he’ll be fine.” she sighed, “He’s been through a lot worse than this. Just give him a few minutes.”

“How do you know anything about what I’ve been through Lewis?” a grumpy voice growled at her.

“I’ve read the files.” Darcy retorted. “All of them.”

He turned back around, shoulders set and chin up as his gaze settled on hers. “How’d you get them?”

“Oh my god really Barnes? What kind of a stupid question is that? Data dump remember, or did you miss that bit?”

“Jesus Lewis, brainwashed with memory issues, remember?? Or did you miss that bit?” he pulled his sleeve up even further and waved his arm around to emphasise his point.

“Er… Why has he got an arm made out of metal?” Rincewind interrupted curiously. “Is it magic?”

They both looked at him and made the decision to grasp the change of subject gratefully.

“No it's not magic, but like I said before, it’s a long story and…” Darcy was interrupted as the Librarian reappeared, took her hand again, and then also reached out and took Bucky’s hand too.

“Oook.”

“What's he saying?” Bucky asked.

“He says he's ready to guide you back home whenever you're ready to go back.” Rincewind explained. “He'll take you back through L-Space, but he needs to know the closest library to where you came from.”

“What's L-Space?” Bucky asked.

“It's the space between libraries, and that's about all I can tell you. Secret lore and all that. The important thing is that you can't go in without a guide. So, library?“  
Darcy and Bucky looked at each other. “Is there a library of any sort on the facility grounds? There'd have to be something wouldn't there? Maybe an archive?” Darcy turned to Rincewind. “Is there like, a critical mass or minimum requirement for books needed? Would an archive do?” she asked him.

“Er...”  
“Oook.”

“Er, no, he says if the owner of the books consider it a library then it probably is. No matter how many books there are. And he can manage an archive if that's all there is. An archive really is just another kind of library really.”

“Ook.”

“I am Groot?”

“Ooook.”

“Right, well then I've got a library in my room, plus there's one in the lab.” Darcy said triumphantly. And then realisation dawned on her face, “The bookshelf in the lab.” She breathed, turning to look at Bucky. “It was right behind me when the Thingummy exploded. And you must’ve been right next to it or something too.”

“I think it, and you, hit me.” Bucky replied slowly. “I don’t really remember though. It happened pretty quickly, and we were both knocked out.”

“Ook!” the orangutan gave a yellow toothed grin, and tugged on her hand again, before sniffing it. Darcy looked down at him, “what did he do that for?”

“Ook.”

“Um, he says he can find your library by smell.” Rincewind said awkwardly.

“Oh, because it'll smell like I do, because I've touched and read the books?” Darcy surmised.

“Yes, exactly that. You know most people wouldn't have figured that out quite so quickly.” Rincewind looked at her in surprise.  
Darcy shrugged, “He's an ape, his sense of smell would have to pretty awesome, so it only makes sense really.”

Just then the door opened, and the nervous young man returned with a large satchel, which he deposited on a table close to the door, and then left as quickly as he could.

“Oh good, your food is here.” Rincewind smiled. “I suppose that you want to get home as quickly as you can.” he said as he went and picked up the bag, looked inside it, and then gave it to Bucky, who slung it over his shoulder after giving it his own thorough looking at.

“Well, I can't think of any reason to hang around here any longer.” he said.

“I am Groot.” Bucky was 99.99% sure that the big tree was agreeing with him.

“Oook.” and the ape.

“Wait, what's that bag?” said Darcy.

“It's the food.” he replied, in a tone of voice that said, 'what else would it be?'

“But, when did that arrive? I didn't see anyone bring it in.”

“It came whilst you were busy talking, now can we go?” Bucky asked impatiently. He'd had enough, he just wanted to go home.

“I am Groot.”

“Okay, fine. Lets go.” Darcy held her hands up in the universal sign of surrender, also known as the universal sign for 'whatever, it's your problem, I'm just tagging along but if everything goes to hell, it's YOUR fault.'

They set off into the shelves, although Darcy was sure that they were headed in a different direction this time. She was walking for now, her leg hurting a lot less after the short rest. At first everything looked... well, not exactly normal, because they weren't exactly in a normal place, but the tops of the shelves were visible, there were regular gaps between rows, and only a few of the books were chained to the shelves. As they continued though, the gloom deepened again, the rustling got louder, and more chains appeared. Then, they turned a corner into another row, and this one seemed to have no end, and the shelves towered above them, and even the Librarian seemed to hunch in on himself a little more, whilst constantly twisting his head around looking out for... for... Darcy had no idea what might be lurking in these depths, but she was pretty sure that she wouldn't want to run into it. After a while they stopped so that the people and the ape could eat, and Groot helped himself to a bottle of water. After the quick meal they continued into the gloom.

“Oook.” The Librarian stopped suddenly, holding a hand up in caution. They all stopped, and listened carefully. Somewhere, amongst the gloomy rustling there was a high pitched whizzing noise, punctuated by an occasional THWACK.

“What's that?” Darcy asked nervously.

Bucky held his hand up, and listened. The whizzing noise seemed to be getting louder, and then there was another, louder THWACK, followed by louder whizzing, and suddenly Bucky was standing in front of her with his metal arm held up in front of him, and there was a loud twanging noise as something hit it, followed by a rapidly fading whining noise as whatever it was disappeared back into the gloom.

“What the hell was that?”

“Ook! Ooook!!” the Librarian bounced up and down excitedly, before grabbing Bucky's arm and inspecting it.

“I am Groot?”

“Ooook.”

“I am Groot!”

Darcy sighed, “I wish Rincewind was here to translate for us.” she sighed. “Whatever that was, they both seem pretty impressed with your arm.”

Bucky shrugged as the Librarian was joined in his inspection of the arm by Groot. “What the hell was that?” he asked Darcy.

“No idea.” she said.

“Ook!” The Librarian dropped Bucky's arm, and suddenly swung off into the gloom. “Hey, don't leave us here, come back!” Darcy yelled after him, but he disappeared. “Crap, now what?” she sighed.

“I am Groot.” Groot said soothingly, and patted her on the head. “I am Groot.”

They waited. They ate. They waited some more. After a while Bucky sat down, and closed his eyes.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Darcy poked him in the ribs.

“Having a rest, what does it look like?” he replied.

“I am Groot.” her other companion agreed, and settled himself into a more comfortable position.

“We can't do anything until he comes back, so we may as well have a rest.” Bucky said, “Sit yourself down Lewis, take a load off. Actually,” he lifted his head and looked at her. “How's your leg?”

“It's fine. A bit achy but I'm doing okay.” she said quietly. “I'll probably feel it later though. Gods, I can't wait to get home.”

They were half dozing when the Librarian finally returned, bouncing up and down excitedly, and with a book in his hand. He sat down between Darcy and Bucky, and opened it up to a page near the front. They looked at it.

“The .303 Bookworm.” Darcy read out loud. “A magical creature that has evolved to eat magical books at incredibly high speeds.” she looked at the Librarian. “That's what Bucky hit with his arm? Or rather, that's what hit Bucky's arm?” She looked at Bucky and winked. “That's a pretty handy arm you've got there Barnes.”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Really? That the best you can come up with?”

“I'm injured and tired Barnes, it's not easy to get a grip on things at the moment.” she replied, her face as blank as a new canvas. “Now give me a hand and help me up.”

“That was terrible. I cannot believe I've been reduced to this.” he muttered as he pulled her up. “Please let us be close to home.”

The Librarian moved off at a sprightly pace, as they followed a little more sedately. A short time later he stopped, and turned to his little band of followers.

“Ook.” He managed to indicate to Darcy and Bucky that he wanted them to stay here, and then he took Groot's hand.

“Oook.” he looked up at Groot, who turned to Darcy and Bucky, and without any warning swept them both up in a large, leafy hug. “I am Groot.” and they could both clearly hear the sad tone to his voice.

“Damn, I'm gonna miss you, my big tree buddy. You look after yourself, ok Groot?” Darcy squeezed him back.

“I am Groot.” he handed her a small flower that had sprouted on his arm, and patted her on the head. Then he patted Bucky on the shoulder, before turning and following the Librarian around a corner.

They waited in silence until the Librarian came back, and then he silently led them further along the endless row of shelves. They walked, and walked, until eventually he stopped them again. He took their hands, and placed them together, “Oook!” and then led them around a corner that neither of them had noticed. He led them on for several steps, and then he stopped and stepped to one side.

“Ook.” he pointed at the shelves next to them, and they realised that there was a gap there.

“I'm sure that wasn't there a moment ago.” Bucky muttered to himself.

“I'm with you on that one.” Darcy agreed with him. “I think that this might be our stop though.”

They turned back to the Librarian, who ooked at them again, then patted them both on their clasped hands, before giving them a gentle push towards the gap.

Darcy squeezed Bucky's hand. “You ready to go home Barnes?”

He squeezed back, and looked down at her. “Yeah, I'm ready.”

They walked into the gap, turned a corner, took a step, and there they were, standing in a homey, comfortably decorated room, next to a large bookcase.

Darcy looked around, and gave a big sigh of relief. “I think we made it.” There was silence for a moment, and then her phone started to vibrate as a plethora of messages hit it.

“I just… gotta let Jane and everyone know we're back safe.” She let go of his hand, and started scrolling through her messages. “Okay, looks like we’ve been gone about.. wow, ten and a half hours.” She looked up him. “That’s way longer than usual. Shit.”

She dialed her phone, “Hey Jane, yeah we’re back… Yeah he’s here too... Okay, we’ll be down real soon.” She twisted and threw him a grin. “In my room. You’ll never believe this one Janey. Okay, see you soon.”

She turned back to him.

“They want us to come down to medical for a check up. No big deal, but they make me do it every time.”

She grinned then.

“Apparently Steve’s been having a major freak out. Anyway, I’m gonna just real quick go to the bathroom and then we’ll go down okay?“

When she came back a few minutes later Bucky was engrossed in the examination of her bookcase and it's contents. “I like your bookcase.”

“Thanks. So I spose we should get going.”

He nodded, and turned away from the books.

She looked at him for a minute, “You know, if you want to borrow anything, you're welcome. In fact...” she leaned past him, and pulled a couple of books from one of the shelves. “Here, try these, they might go a little ways to enlightening you on our recent adventure.” she smiled at him a little nervously as she put them in his hands. 

He looked down at the books, then back at the woman in front of him. “Thanks. I'll look after them.”

They proceeded down to the medical bay, running into a frantic Steve barely a quarter of the way there. After a battery of the usual tests, a retelling of the story, some harsh words exchanged between Darcy and certain people who refused to believe her, and a broken vase, before she stormed out and they went their separate ways. Darcy avoided the lab for a few days before giving up and going back to work.

  
  


The day after their return, Darcy was relaxing in her room with a book, some soothing background music, and a comfortable nest of cushions and blankets on her floor, when there was a hesitant knock at her door. She struggled out of her cocoon, and opened it.

Bucky looked up, and then held out the books. “I finished them.”

She looked down at the books, and then up at his face again. “Okay.”

“And then I read them again. Um.. are there any more?”

She grinned. “Come into my parlour.”

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I came to do a quick reread, edit and post, I added like, another 500 words. So if this ending seems a little abrupt it's cos I just wanted to be done with it.


End file.
